The Catholic Fight Against Eugenics, Growing Up Jain in America, and More

September 05, 2013

Summary: The Catholic struggle with forced sterilization, the first generation of Jains raised in America, and a prison rabbi explains how Jews behind bars observe the Day of Atonement.

Forced Sterilization in America: Why Catholics Fought Back

September 05, 2013

It's no secret that Catholic leaders today are heavily involved in public policy debates over issues like contraception and abortion. In the years before WWII, they opposed a different kind of reproductive control: eugenics. Many states had laws that allowed forcible sterilization of so-called "undesirables." American Catholics led the fight against these measures and the prejudices behind them.

Approximately 100,000 Jains live in America today. While many are natives of India, many more are their children. Now, members of the very first generation of Jains raised in America are entering universities and the workforce. And they're figuring out how to practice their religion in a society where few people have ever met a Jain.

Pictured: Jain temple at Ranakpur in India

Kayuri Shah, 18-year-old freshman at Virginia Commonwealth University
Shikhar Shah, 21-year-old graduate student at University of Illinois at Chicago

In Prison on the Day of Atonement

September 05, 2013

Out of the 3 million or so America’s in prison and jails, about 7,000 identify as Jews – though the actual number is likely much higher. Many of them keep kosher, pray daily and attend religious services. And the most popular prison service? Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.